I have spent much of my career studying ways to blunt the effects of disinformation and help the public make sense of the complexities of politics and science. When my colleagues and I probed the relation between the consumption of misinformation and the embrace, or dismissal, of protective behaviors that […] Read more »
YouTube still hosts extremist videos. Here’s who watches them.
YouTube is overshadowed by Facebook and Twitter in the debate over the harms of social media, but the site has massive reach — 3 in 4 Americans report using it. This growth has been driven by YouTube’s use of algorithms to recommend more videos to watch, a feature that critics […] Read more »
PBS could help rebuild trust in US media
In February, M&RR, a marketing research firm, released the results of a “nationwide survey” that found PBS to be “America’s most trusted institution.” … In order to understand the issue of trust, to see how PBS can capitalize on this level of trust to expand viewership, and to ponder the […] Read more »
Support for QAnon is hard to measure – and polls may overestimate it
It’s not clear exactly how many people believe or follow QAnon. AP Photo/Matt Rourke James Shanahan, Indiana University It’s hard to know how many people actually believe the key tenets of QAnon’s claims, including that devil-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles are somehow running the world. Its adherents have caused violence and insurrection, […] Read more »
How Americans Navigated the News in 2020: A Tumultuous Year in Review
Americans are divided – that much is obvious after a contentious presidential election and transition, and in the midst of a politicized pandemic that has prompted a wide range of reactions. But in addition to the familiar fault line of political partisanship, a look back at Pew Research Center’s American […] Read more »
Views of Big Tech Worsen; Public Wants More Regulation
Americans’ views of large technology companies have become significantly more negative over the past 18 months, and public support for increased government regulation of these businesses has risen. A 45% plurality of U.S. adults have a very or somewhat negative view of these firms, defined in the survey as “technology […] Read more »